Improvement in potato-diggers



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IMPROVEMENT IN POTATO-llJIG-G'rIElRS.y

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that l, IRA CURTIS, ofDesMoines, in the county of Polk, and State of Iowa, have invented a newand improved Potato-Digger; and I do hereby declare that the followingis afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operationof the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, makingapart of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinalvertical section.

Figure 2 is a plan.

The object of this invention is to provide for public use a simple,cheap, and electivemaohine, which will dig the tubers, cleanse them fromdirt, and empty them into a bag or basket.

In the drawings- W W are the wheels;

A, the axle; F, a frame, resting upon the axle near its rear end, andrmly fastened to the same;

B, a roller, or drum-shaft, supported by the rear end of the frame, andreceiving motion from the draughtwheels, by means of gearing w w and vG, a frame within the frame F, and pivoted to it at p p, so as to berocked vertically on suc-l1 pivots by means of the level' L and cord K.

The frame C is divided longitudinally into twotracks, or open spaces,(shown by the plan, tig. 2,) by means of three dividing-partitions, P PP".

The side pieces P P' of the two spaces, prevent the potatoes fromescaping from the sides of the endless apron hereinafter described.

The middle piece separates the two aprons, and prevents the potatoesfrom. passing from one to the other.

H is the plow, the triangular outlines of which can be seen in fig. 2.Ii

It is supported by a standard, M, fixed (at the proper inclination) tothe middle piece of frame C, as shown in fig. l. v

'.lhe lower forward corners, of the side pieces P P', come down, and arefastened to the outer corners of the plow, and, if necessary, across-bar, m, may extend across from one side piece to the other, atthis point, in order to support the plow. t

lhe middle partition P is merely an angular piece lying upon andfastened properly to the upper edge of the central beam of frame C, saidframe having three longitudinal beams, two of which are shown in iig.`2, the other being concealed under the angular piece P".

The central piece appears plainly in iig. 1, with the part P restingupon it,

I I are two rollers, which, in connection with the drums b b upon shaftB, carry the endless aprons E E', arranged side by side, one in thespace between partitions P' P, the other between P P, as shown in iig.2.

The aprons extend from a point in rear ofthe plow, backward and Vupwardsufliciently far, and discharge the tubers upon two inclines, J J (onefor each apron,) by which they are directed into a bag or'basket.

I f a basket is usedit may sit on the rest R.

Between the rear edge of the plow and the front edge of the aprons,extendsa set of longitudinal bars,

or rods, r fr a" lr', which form a riddle, or sieve thron gh which thedirt is sifted as the tubers are forced back over it.

The bars may be of any suitable length, inclination, size, and distanceapart, and may be constructed so as to have a vibrating motion, ifdesired.

N N are two beaters and propelling-wheels, putin motion from shaft B bymeans of suitable belts and pulleys, o o o, each wheel being providedwith arms, u u. The function ofthe wheels, is to force the potatoes backover the riddles and upon the inclined aprons, and. to agitate them, andremove. the dirt from them.

Instead of having the side pieces P P come down 'to the plows, so as tokeep the tubers from falling o of the riddles, the wheels N N may beprovided with end-disks, which will answer the same purpose.

In that case, instead of the arms u n., longitudinal bars, extendingfrom one disk' to the other (of the same wheel,) parallel to the shaft,might be employed, forming an apparatus somewhat like a harvester-reel.

The whole apparatus is simple, cheap, inexpensive, and not liable fo getout of order.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The whole machine herein described, iu its novel arrangement of frames FC, partitions P P P, wheels W W, w w, N N, shaft B, carrying drums b l,riddles r r', endless aprons E E', plow H, lever L, axle A, and inclinesJ' J', all constructed and adapted to each other to operate together inthe manner and for the purpose substantially as described.

Witnesses:

J. l?. FOSTER, WM. P. SHAVE.

IRA cURTls-

